The Designer’s Cut

Spontaneity and Process: Who’s the Daddy?

by Karl Elliott

This short essay investigates
the role that process plays in
design, simultaneously arguing
that the ‘spontaneity’ of creativity
is, to some large degree, an
illusion; and also that making
the process more explicit is a
growing trend and one that
offers real benefit to designers.
To bolster this claim, Elliott draws
upon a number of examples.
Between the composition of
a tune called ‘Scrambled Eggs’
and the song ‘Yesterday’ there
was a process, he says.

An exhibition by architects
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de
Meuron at the Tate Modern in
London included all the sketches,
drawings and doodles, blue foam
models, found objects, in-car
video footage and recordings of
conversations that are essential
to the final artwork, but are often
thought of as the ‘throwaway’
aspects of creativity.

In another example, he
says that even watching a DVD
has become a lesson in the
appetite for the process behind
creativity. “At will, you can
now go behind the scenes,
watch documentaries on ‘the
making of’, review storyboards,
witness the secrets of special
effects and watch it all over
again with the back-seat
commentary of the producer,
director, actor, cinematographer
et al,” writes Elliott. Only
literature is lagging behind this
new thirst for the background
knowledge. Even then, it’s only
a matter of time, he suggests,
before you'll be able to read
the Publisher's Cut of the
Da Vinci Code.

The relevance of all this is
that, for designers, process
is not a word to be scared of.
As Elliott concludes: “I think
there is a huge appetite to
devour the content of process,
I just don't think we like to admit
it. But if you were buying a piece
of live brand communications,
wouldn't you like to see some
process?”

This article originally appeared in volume 12 of WPP's Atticus Journal.